Oscars 2013: First Time Nominees

The Academy
Awards are a few weeks ago and, as a result, “Tony’s Talking: Movies” will be presenting
several Oscar-related posts in the weeks leading up to the awards.

Of the 20 acting-related nominees this year, four are first-time nominees
or less than half the number of first-time nominees from last year. Generally,
the number of first-time nominees fall somewhere between those two and, in
hindsight, some signal the beginning of a great career and others are an odd
footnote in a performer’s career. This year, one of the first-time nominees,
Quvenzhané Wallis, was born in 2003 and was
appearing in her first film. A second, Emmanuelle Riva, does not make
English-language movies and, as a result, it is nearly impossible to get on the Academy’s radar. The
other two Oscar virgins, though, present an interesting question and could
perfectly bookend what a first Oscar nomination can do.

Bradley
Cooper and Hugh Jackman have appeared in a lot of movies over the years and
neither one has garnered much awards consideration prior to this year. Sure,
Jackman was solid enough in “The Prestige” and “The Fountain,” although he
certainly wasn’t irreplaceable. The same can be said for Cooper, who was almost
exclusively a comedic actor prior to last year.

Because
of their film history, whether it’s as Wolverine or the guy that made out with
Michael Ian Black in “Wet Hot American Summer,” the expectations for both men
tend to be closer to “Don’t make the film worse” than “We can’t make this movie
without you.” However, this year, both men reached that second level and
rightfully earned their first Oscar nominations, which begs the question of
whether both men are truly capable of performing at such high levels or if every
actor is capable of having that one career-defining performance.

While
the answer to that question cannot be discerned now, as neither man has made
another film since their nominated turns, historically, the odds are stacked against
these men suddenly turning into Marlon Brando. The list of one-time nominees is
huge and includes everyone from Kate Hudson (“Almost Famous”) to Sylvester
Stallone (“Rocky”) and that doesn’t even include the people who made their one
random nomination really count, like F. Murray Abraham (“Amadeus”) and Gwyneth
Paltrow (“Shakespeare in Love”).

Based
on that history, it would seem that these two men are likely to be regulated
back to playing superheroes (Hugh Jackman really just can’t help himself
anyway) and slapstick comedians in commercially huge but critically indifferent
films and for the nearly 45-year-old, well-established Jackman, that will
probably be the case. For the younger and much less established Cooper,
however, it could be a very a different story, as his career may have the
potential to follow another actor that garnered had worked primarily in comedy and
earned his first Oscar nomination in his early-to-mid-30s for his role in a dramedy
and that man went on to earn another four nominations, including back-to-back
wins in 1994 and 1995.

While
saying anyone is on their way to being the next (SURPISE!) Tom Hanks, it would
not be impossible for Bradley Cooper to end up with a similar kind of legacy. There
is an old expression about anyone that can master comedy is capable of mastering
any kind of acting and if Cooper hasn’t mastered comedy, he is certainly
enrolled in the graduate program.

His
filmography includes “Wedding Crasher,” “The Hangover,” the aforementioned “Wet
Hot American Summer,” and “He’s Just Not That Into You.” All four films are
highly successful comedies and, even more impressively, are different styles of
comedy. “The Hangover” is a classic raunchy comedy. “Wedding Crashers” is a
raunchy comedy with a heart and Cooper plays the villain. “Wet Hot American
Summer” is a prime example of absurdest humor and “He’s Just Not That Into You”
is a class rom-com (or chick flick). Cooper performed admirably in all those
roles.

The
real test for Cooper will be his performance in his next film, “The PlaceBeyond the Pines,” which also stars the always dependable Ryan Gosling. If he
takes another leap forward, we could be talking about Cooper as budding acting
powerhouse and perennial Oscar nominee. If he falls flat out of the gate,
though, at least he’ll always have “Silver Linings Playbook.”

How’d
I do? Send me an email at afioriglio@timesherald.com or get at me on Twitter
@TheTonyFiorigli.

The idea is good but the research and execution is lacking. Perhaps the follow up should be "Why does Hollywood waste the talents of so many good actors?" Hugh Jackman being a prime example. He made his first film back in 1998, a tiny ($300k) australian movie called "Erskineville Kings". He won critics' awards, was nominated for as AFI Best Actor. He was the lead in a production at the Royal National Theatre in London and was nominated for an Olivier award. Then came X-Men which got him into Hollywood but only as an action hero. He steped sidewards and did a show on Broadway, received critical raves in a show that was otherwise panned and won every award going that season. This seemed to help with Hollywood and he landed a couple of good roles - "The Fountain" and "The Prestige" and was pretty good in both. Unfortunately, the critics are pretty slow on the uptake so they're still not seeing what he can do. The next stop was "Australia" which took up a lot of his time but fizzled. When you look at his filmography, what's missing is the kind of prestige projects that garner awards. It's not that he gets cast but underperforms, he just doesn't get cast. We can blame him for not picking the right projects but how much of it is not being offered those projects?

I know much less about Bradley Cooper, but I remember that he received good notices for his performance on Broadway in "Three Days of Rain" and tha he's due to return to Broadway shortly. It sounds like he's another actor with skills beyond those that have been recognised on film.

Honestly, I am pretty sure that Hugh Jackman would get more prestige projects if directors thought he was capable of handling them. He did have movies like the aforementioned "The Fountain" and "The Prestige," both of which had enough depth that he could have catapulted to that next level. Instead, he chose to continue making Wolverine movies.

I'm not trying to diminish the acting talent of either of these two men. I'm willing to wager that even the absolute "worst" actors are better than 99 percent of society. I was trying more to say that any actor is capable of a great performance, regardless of past history but that this could be the start of something bigger for Bradley Cooper.